Never Look Back
by darkblueballoon
Summary: AU. The world has ended and much of it lies in ruin. As a consquence some humans have evolved into Turns. Creatures with stange abilties that are kept in labs for their 'safety'. Roxas is a Turn. And he wants his freedom back. Rating may change.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. I am not profiting from this story.

This is my first KH fic. I'll be honest, I have no clue where this will eventually end up, what the relationships will be, whether or not it will have a happy ending because I haven't planned that far yet. MXM/FXF may appear if it fits the story, but there will be het too. If this offends you, don't read. Do not flame me, it won't stop me writing. Constructive criticism is most welcome, however. And any praise is met with jumping up a down and possibly dancing around the room like an idiot and great appreciation.

And on to the prologue.

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Never Look Back

Prologue

They say it happened in the blink of an eye, in a flash of blinding light. With an explosion that sucked the air from the lungs. They say the lucky ones died.

Whole cities, whole countries were laid to waste and left to crumble, the once lush fields left as poisonous wastelands. The chemicals that spilled into the water and food supplies left thousands with strange mutations. Some grew limbs that looked like wings, or had the ability to manipulate their environment. These were taken deep underground where the remaining laboratories were housed, never to be seen again. But the ones the scientists really wanted to see, to study were the ones who claimed to be able to read minds and feelings. They were the most useful; they didn't look any different from a normal human. They were the most dangerous. They had to be kept under control.

And if any of the specimens did manage to escape they were hunted relentlessly.

* * *

Everything burned. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to stop, to rest. The thick smog made his eyes itch and his vision swim. His hands were encrusted with dirt and bleeding from countless tiny cuts.

He could feel presences behind him; hear the raised voices as his pursuers shouted at each other. He scrambled up another pile of rubble only to tumble down the other side. He couldn't see where he had landed, the smog too thick to even see his hand in front of his face. He pushed himself to his feet, attempting to ignore the pain that shot up his left leg. He started forward, his hands outstretched before him.

His fingers met a solid surface, cold and jagged. He shuffled to the side, hands pressed against the barrier trying to find a way through.

Behind him the voices were getting louder, closer. He could hear their foot falls and their curses. He heard a clang as something was knocked off the pile of rubble.

He tried to shuffle further along the wall, his stomach falling as he found a join, the two barriers boxing him in.

His pursuers were so close he could hear their shouts easily and their angry thoughts even easier.

He tried to double back only to crash into a moving mass and be knocked to the floor. He heard a twang, felt a stabbing pain just below his ribcage before falling into unconsciousness.

Above him, cold eyes looked down at his prone form for a moment before pulling something from a pocket.

"Target acquired."


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** I don't now, and never will own KH or its characters.

So, here's the first chapter. Hopefully you like the prologue and are reading this. I looked at the hit counter thing and people were at least giving the story a try. A good start if you ask me. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter. It's a bit slow to begin with, but gets rolling soon enough. I hope no one's too out of character, it's been a while since I played the game. Hope you like.

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Never Look Back

Chapter One

It's a strange feeling being awake but not able to open your eyes. It's almost like dreaming, but more painful. He couldn't feel yet, or hear or smell. But he could see the flashing red on the back of his eyelids. Slowly more of his senses started to respond. He was lying on something that jolted him from time to time. His muscles still ached, and there was a throbbing pain emanating from his left ankle. He could feel restraints on his wrists, just above his ankles and across his chest so tight that they were adding to the background level of pain.

As another jolt rocked his body he found the energy to open his eyes only to be momentarily blinded by the florescent lights on what must have been the ceiling. He blinked a few times until his vision cleared of the dancing dots and saw that he was lying in what appeared to be a thin mattress that offered little comfort.

He groaned as the bed, for lack of a better word, was jerked to a halt. Tilting his head to the side slowly he saw that he was at a door, but his muddled brain couldn't make sense of the words on the door or the thoughts of the man who was now turning the handle and opening the door. Somewhere, in the haze of his half drugged mind, he could feel frustration building and felt his fingers twitch slightly.

His frustration only increased when he recognised the scent that wafted out of the room, a strange mixture of smoke and disinfectant that made the backs of his eyes sting. He heard the faint, incomprehensible mumble of words being spoken before he saw a glint on the edge of his vision. He could barely register what was happening before he felt the prick of a needle in his upper arm. This time it took a little longer for the black to completely cloud his vision, and before he lost consciousness again he saw the florescent lights above him start to move.

-

The first thing he noticed was the way he knees seemed to press against his ears in the small space, the skin slightly sticky with old dirt and sweat. His ankle still hurt, the injury not helped by the strange angle his foot was in to keep it away from the electrified bars that criss-crossed the front of his cage. He remembered trying, in one of his more lucid moments, how it was possible for his captors to generate the electricity when he had been told as a small child that all methods of pre-Fall electricity production had been lost when It happened. He cared no more for the answer now than he did then other than how it might help him reach the surface again.

A small smile crossed his at the thought of what he had felt during his attempt to escape. Thick clogging smog and the putrid smell of dead animals had held no revulsion for him. Not when it was a sign that he was actually free, running across the surface for the first time in what may have been years. He had kept his promise if only for a short while. And one day, somehow he would reach the surface and never be dragged back down.

He started and pushed himself as close as possible to the back of the cage as someone entered the room. At first all he could see was black shoes and trousers under an off white lab coat, the bottom hem fraying from overuse. Then the person crouched down and he was confronted with those green eyes and the greasy blond hair that hung around the man's pointed face.

"Aww, little pet, don't be scared," the man said with a smile that didn't reach his cold eyes. "It's play time. You missed playtime, didn't you pet? Ah well, you're almost better now so it time to play with the other boys and girls, don't you think?"

The man's ability to speak in that sickly sweet voice while his eyes promised excruciating pain never ceased to make him quake with fear, his thoughts of promises and freedom dissolving in an instant as the cage door was opened.

He scratched at the man's arms as he bared his teeth and hissed like a wildcat. His inability to hear the man's thoughts only served to increase his fright and he started to claw at his right wrist where a tight band had been wrapped. The sharp needles on the underside of the band dug into his skin, injecting a strange gold liquid that created a strange numbness in his mind. Even his ability to sense the man's disgust and self-importance had started to fade and his thoughts began to slow.

He shook his head wildly. He didn't want to play. Play always made his head hurt and white lights dance before his eyes with each flash of pain.

Long, cool fingers curled around his left wrist and he was dragged out of his cage as the man let out an annoyed growl. His feet scrabbled against the tiles as he tried to stand upright and lessen the pain in his wrist and shoulder. But he wasn't given the time to right himself as the man started to drag him out of the room. He earned himself a sharp smack round the side of head that made his vision swim for grabbing the doorframe on the way out. He yelped and let go to try to shield his head from the second blow to the head.

"Behave pet, or your play time will be lengthened." The man's voice was now cold and flat, devoid of even the fake joviality it had held before.

The boy stilled immediately, whimpering.

The man's lips twitched in what may have been a smile, or possibly an amused smirk.

-

"Professor Vexen?"

"What?" Vexen responded angrily, turning on the shorter man beside him.

"The subject is unconscious but the level of detectable brain activity has increased significantly," the shorter man replied, handing his superior the clipboard he had brought with him.

Vexen scanned the read out, quickly noting figures and the listed levels of various neurochemicals. "Has there been any indication of the cause of these levels of dopamine?"

"No, sir," the short man replied as he followed dutifully behind Vexen as he returned to the laboratory.

Upon entering, Vexen shoved a blonde woman away from a computer screen as he muttered furiously under his breath.

"Zexion!" Vexen shouted, making the shorter man flinch. "Run the usual tests. Once every fifteen minutes."

"Sir," Zexion said as he bowed his head, not at all surprised when his superior left without a word, taking the smirking blonde woman with him.

Zexion turned to the subject, his gaze impassive as he watched a frown form on the specimen's face. He jotted the observation down on a piece of paper on the work desk, noting also how the frown coincided with a twitching of the fingers and slight downward turn of the mouth.

Zexion worked methodically, taking three phials of blood and storing them in the cooler on the desk for later examination. He then proceeded to check the subject's vital signs for any fluctuations. Negative.

He stepped back from the examination table to the desk. He ran a breakdown on each blood sample. There were slightly different reading for each, but the results still enabled him to make a sufficient average for levels of iron, glucose, platelets and half a dozen other things. He made a note on the first page of results to send them to the Green Lab for more detailed analysis.

He set his pen down and walked back to the examination table, his gaze now slightly less objective. The subject, the _boy_, had similar colouring to the specimen who insisted on being called Demyx. This specimen's hair was slightly darker, a dirty blonde with the occasional strand of brown. If he remembered correctly, his eyes lacked the green tint that made Demyx's so interesting to Vexen. They looked to be roughly the same age under all the muck. Mid to late teens he suspected, the harder planes of adulthood beginning to show in their faces.

He couldn't help but wonder why, out of all the hundreds of specimens they held, these two moved him to feel _something_ even if it was merely pity. It would require further investigation. And he might consider suggesting putting the two together. This specimen never spoke, hardly making a sound at all. Demyx, on the other hand, was only silent while sedated. Maybe the forced interaction would make this specimen start to speak, to make him answer the questions that no amount of tests could answer. How did the subject gain his abilities? How did they work? For all that power of science, he and the other scientists had never been able to answer those two questions.

-

When he started to come to his senses the first thing he noticed was that he was no longer cold, despite being back in his usually freezing cage. Being warm was a pleasant feeling, and one he hadn't felt in a long time. Yet it also sent a shiver of apprehension down his spine. After all, he didn't know where the warmth was coming from.

His answer came as he picked up the sound of humming near his right ear. It was tuneful, not the kind of sound that made him wish he was deaf. Looking round, the motion slowed by his stiff neck, he realised that he was leaning against another body, and flinched back.

"Hey! You're awake. That's good." The other person spoke in a tone that was cheerful and a near whisper at the same time.

The other person seemed unfazed by his reaction to his presence. "I'm Demyx. But you can call me Dem, 'cause I like you already. We both got moved cells. Ain't this one great? It's so big and the bars aren't electrified. But don't stick your feet out, they hate that. See?"

He pointed to his feet. They were covered in angry, red welts where they had been struck by something. One was still bleeding slowly, the thick blood oozing out of the cut.

"Steer clear of the one with the metal ruler. She's the worst," Demyx prattled on, still oblivious to the wary gaze of the other boy in the cell, who was left dumbstruck by his vitality.

"Oh, sorry! What's your name?" Dem asked, fixing the other boy with the sheer enthusiasm of his gaze. He looked slightly hurt when he noticed the other boy trying to move even further from him. "Hey, I ain't going ta hurt you. They hurt us enough. So what's your name?"

Demyx watched as the other boy opened him mouth and closed it a few times as a look of frustration crossing his face.

"You can't talk?" Demyx asked, catching on to the other boy's problem and was answered with an unsteady nod the head. "Can you spell it?"

The other boy paused for a minute as he tried to remember the answer. Yes he could spell his name. So he did, still unsure of how trustworthy his new companion was, but wanting to prove to himself that he could still write his name.

"Are. Oh. Ex. Ay. Ess. Rox... Roxas? Your name's Roxas?" Demyx looked at the boy, who nodded hesitantly. "Cool. I'll call you Rox, then." Demyx laughed quietly as he noticed the other boy's chest puff out in indignation. He was going to have so much fun with his new friend.

Roxas felt himself deflate and took a few moments to actually look at the boy next to him. He looked skinny, his t-shirt and shorts ratty and riddled with holes much like his own. His hair was untidy, short at the top and long at the back like someone had stopped half way through cutting it. His eager eyes were blue tinged with green. There were faint scars dotted over his pale skin. The most obvious stretched from the bridge of his nose, across the left side of his face to disappear in his hair, only just healed if the pinkness was any indication. He was just as skinny as Roxas, but his body seemed larger and more substantial somehow. Maybe it was the impact of his personality giving the rest of him a weight that his bones couldn't carry as flesh.

"Did you know, Rox," Demyx started, giggling almost silently at his cellmate's scowl. "I've been here five years. Haven't seen the ocean in seven. Got caught when I was ten, you see Rox. How old are you?"

Roxas didn't know what Demyx meant by 'ocean' so he just ignored the comment. At the talk of age he just shrugged. He didn't know how old he was. All he knew was that he was taken at the age of seven and had been attempting to reach freedom ever since.

"You don't know? Hm. How old were you when you got caught?" Roxas held up seven fingers and Demyx just stared at him shocked for a few seconds. "Seven? Hmm. You look a bit younger than me. So we'll say you're fifteen. That fine by you?" Demyx paused in his rambling to look at the smaller blond.

Roxas nodded, slightly perplexed by the sheer level of energy the other possessed. At the rate Demyx was going, Roxas would barely have managed it for five minutes. Did he never get tired?

"Okay then. That's sorted. Means you been here about eight years," Demyx seemed to droop as a thought came to him. "I heard one of the lab people say we the longest surviving Turns they ever had. Rox, you don't thi-"

Demyx was cut off by the sound of the door to their cage opening and someone in a light blue lab coat laying two bowls of food down by their feet. After closing the cell door they practically ran out of the room, leaving the two on their own again.

As Roxas sat hunch up and slurping from the bowl in his hands, he turned his mind back to his promise to get free. He thought that maybe, just maybe, if he had Demyx's energy then keeping that promise would be so much easier. He glanced at the other boy, who was drinking the contents of the bowl with relish and utterly distracted from their conversation, and sighed. No matter how bad it tasted, even after all this time, he wouldn't be going anywhere if he didn't eat. He gulped the watery substance down without tasting a single mouthful.


	3. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own KH or any of its characters. Unfortunately.

People are actually reading this story. Whoo! Thank you for reading. And an even bigger thank you to the reviewer and the few who faved or put the story on alert. It makes me feel happy. Hopefully this chapter doesn't move too quickly, I struggled to find a ay to cover the time that wouldn't bore you readers to tears.

On a sid note. If you any mistakes on spelling the names, would you let me know? Word keeps on autochanging them, and while I think I got them all, I could have missed one or two.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you lik the next chapter.

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Never Look Back

Chapter Two

According to Demyx, he and Roxas had been 'bestest friends', or in Roxas terms shared the same cell, for about two months. Even now, Roxas couldn't sure if Demyx's incessant chatter was a blessing or a new form of torture. It distracted both of them from their playtimes with Vexen, but the force of Demyx's emotions also gave Roxas a blinding headache that forced to lay back against Demyx with the other boy's cool hand shielding his eyes as he apologised to his new friend and tried to reign his wayward emotions in.

Roxas wasn't sure where his trust for Demyx came from and couldn't really bring himself to care beyond the fact it made it easier for him to get by day after day. Demyx kept him calm, even with his uncontrolled Emotion Storm as Roxas had started to call it. It was a situation that Roxas couldn't remember having been in before. Demyx had even made him smile a couple of times in the last few days, and he felt somewhat heartened that it always managed to make the other boy happy. Or happier, anyway. The other boy seemed to exude a sense of security that Roxas couldn't deny, and after so long on his own he wasn't sure he wanted to.

Playtime still left Roxas with nightmares and occasionally he returned to his cage on the verge of emotional collapse, seeing Vexen's leering face on the backs of his eyelids each time he blinked. Demyx, Roxas discovered, bottled it all up inside until the strain and the hurt would suddenly turn him into a sobbing wreck in the opposite side of the cage. That was when the Emotional Storms were at their worst, and it was Roxas' pain that would draw Demyx out of whatever dark recess of his mind he was inhabiting to try and sooth his friend.

But there were also times that they just sat and Demyx would talk, telling stories and jokes that were rarely funny but alleviated the tension that hung in the air around them.

"And then d'you know what happened, Rox?" Demyx looked to his silent friend who shook his head, long since accustomed to the nickname before continuing his story. "The little black thing, you know... The one without the heart that I dreamt about the other day? Well, whatever. It jumped up, and started runnin' at me, y'know? Well, I couldn't have that could I? So I picked up the thing with all the strings, the instrument, right? And hit it over the head. And then it just burst, like an ugly little black bubble. It was _so_ cool."

Demyx stopped talking long enough to star wistfully across the room while he thought about the dream he had had the night before. But slowly the small smile faded and that rare thoughtful look crossed his face and he looked at Roxas.

Roxas, who still felt shocked by these sudden mood swings, raised an eyebrow in question while trying to shuffle further into the wall behind him to avoid Demyx's hands in case he started to flail them around again. Already that day he had been rapped on the head, whacked on the nose and poked in the right eye.

"You know what Rox? Back in the real world I never really had a family. Da was a no show. Never met him once. Ma spent her time trying to avoid me. Never knew why..." Demyx paused, a look of deep rooted pain shining briefly in his eyes before it was gone. "Last time I saw her was my fourth birthday. She whacked me when I asked if she was alright. Had no brothers, no sisters. Had some friends. But they were all taken too..."

Roxas reached out and patted Demyx awkwardly on the arm, still not knowing the best way to comfort his friend when he fell into one of these melancholy moods.

Demyx smiled. "I think you'd have liked some of them at least. Some of them were as quiet as you are... But what I wanted most in the world was a little brother or sister. Someone who needed me and didn't think I was a nuisance. I'd laugh when they told a joke, even if it was awful. I'd sing them lullabies if they couldn't get to sleep. Just be a big brother, y'know?"

Demyx drew a deep breath and sighed, shaking his head from side to side slightly. "Rox, I... I think I've got what I want. I think you're my little brother, the one I never got to have out there."

All Roxas could do was stare at the boy who now had a few tears running down his cheeks. He thought about what Demyx had said. Brother? At first he wasn't sure about the whole idea. Brother meant a tie, a shared responsibility of one for the other. That was a bittersweet thing to possess in a place like the labs and it was so easily broken. But he felt old memories resurfacing, thoughts he hadn't had since his early days in quarantine. It was a soft voice, feminine and caring.

"_Sometimes the risks are worth it, Roxas." The woman said, ruffling his short blond spikes. "You can't live now if you're scared of the future." She crouched down with a smile and drew the small boy into a tight hug before pushing him gently towards the door._

Roxas reached out and tapped Demyx on the arm, and waited for the other boy to turn and look at him before starting to spell out his answer on the small strip of the cage floor left clear by the door. It was slow work. Roxas had trouble writing some of the letters and it took a few attempts for Demyx to make out the words in the dust. But when he did, finally, make sense of the answer, he grinned and repressed an excited squeal.

Roxas was taken by surprise when Demyx pulled him into a tight hug, his face pressed into the thin fabric that covered the larger boys shoulder. He couldn't help but smile at the steady stream of happiness and garbled thoughts that ran out of Demyx and lingered in the air around them.

"Rox?" Demyx asked, the slight quaver in his usually steady voice making Roxas look up at him curiously. "Could.... Would it be alright if I sang you a lullaby? Quiet o' course so they don't hear, but.... Please?"

Roxas could feel the other boy's muscles tense as he waited for his answer. Even as Roxas was nodding his head he felt the other boy relax again, shifting position a little so it was easier to breathe.

Demyx's singing voice was slightly husky and held the same feeling of energy that seemed to seep from his every pore. He sang of wide expanses of water, the oceans Roxas had never heard of before, winged animals flying in the sky, free to go where ever they wished.

When Roxas fell asleep he dreamt of birds and waves.

-

Roxas bit into his lower lip as the tip of the needle pierced his for the second time. It was a sting that even years of experience hadn't been able to dull. He screwed his eyes tightly shut so that he didn't have to watch the needle slid further under his skin, and flinched when he felt instrument be removed.

The man in white, the one who usually ran the tests on Demyx, handed the syringe of blood to a woman in pale green before ordering her to leave the room. The man turned back where Roxas sat upright of the examination table, face a little mottled by quickly darkening bruises. The man needed results with this specimen. It was the only response his suggestion had been given the okay. And in two months the only thing that had changed was the specimen's stubbornness as he refused more and more to willingly participate in the tests. Orders from both Vexen and himself had failed to have an effect. The punishment that Vexen dished out appeared to only make the subject even less co-operative. It would be time for a different approach. If the specimen refused to respond to aggression, there was the possibility that a slightly less intrusive method would help here as it had the specimen Demyx.

The first step was to offer the specimen another method of communication. The subject would release sounds associated with distress from time to time, but never speak. He had been monitoring the events in room A-3 where this specimen and the one known as Demyx were being kept. Not once had the sound sensors picked anything verbal that didn't fit the profile of the second specimen, all it would appear that the silent subject had _attempted_ to speak to the other specimen and failed. On the other hand, it also would seem that both specimens possessed the ability to read and write a piece of information that was most surprising to the scientist.

He set a thin pad of paper and a pen down beside the specimen, making movements slow and deliberates so as to not startle the already justifiably cautious subject.

"Now, I believe we have never been formerly introduced. I am Zexion, nothing more, nothing less," he paused briefly to gauge the subject's response to his change in tactics. He noted that the gaze that stared at him now was shrewdly intelligent, and for a brief moment he allowed himself to wonder if that feeling of a presence prodding at his mind was subject. If it was, it only proved that it was in the right place.

"You must have realised that I am the one who... investigates the abilities of your friend. You will also note that he has never returned to you cell with injuries." He gave the specimen a few minutes to take in the meaning of his words.

Roxas felt the watchful gaze of the scientist – _Zexion_ – as he sat and analysed the information he had been given. The man was right, Demyx had never returned with a single injury. Not one. Yes, some of the wardens would smack him for making too much noise, but not once had he seen even a scratch or bruise after the times Demyx was let out to play with this scientist. Vexen punished everybody, not just the prisoners like him.

Roxas let his eyes flick to that pad and pen. So the scientist wanted him to write, did he? It could be worth seeing where this led.

"Do you know why that is?" Zexion waited for the subject to hesitantly shake its head. "It is because Demyx and I made an agreement. If he would answer my questions I would not cause him any harm."

The deal had been reached after Zexion had been kicked in the stomach and the specimen had been given a broken leg as a reward for his daring. Maybe it was an inkling of respect that Turn who was barely into its seventh year had had the nerve to fight, yet have the ability to look remorseful whilst doing it.

"If you were to agree to answer my questions on that paper then Vexen would by less inclined to inflict punishment on you. It would also mean that you would see less of my superior period. It would be beneficial for both of us. So, are you willing to answer my questions?"

Roxas sat unmoving, trying to digest what he had been told. It was a simple proposition, and one that held a lot of potential for improvement. He found himself reluctant to decline the chance to suffer less at the harsh hands of Vexen. All those were valid reasons for agree to the deal, but they were what made him pick up the pen. If he had fewer injuries, he would be healthier, he knew. If he was healthier he would be better able to keep his promise. If he kept that promise, he would feel freedom.

Zexion felt a slight tremor of anticipation run through him when he saw the subject pick up the pen. Finally, they start to get the answers from the most complex Turn the labs had ever looked after. He took a couple of seconds to remember what had gotten the best reaction of the subject Demyx.

"So, what would like to be called?" Giving the specimen's some of their dignity back was a small price for the answers and knowledge he would gain in return.

Roxas studied the man harshly for a few minutes before putting the pen to the paper again.

-

"And I swear, Rox, the sky was bluer than your eyes. And so big, with little wisps of cloud flouting on the breeze. And then it started to rain. Buckets of rain," Demyx shook his head, laughing softly under his breath at the memory. "We looked like drowned... Damn, what are those things with the horrible tails called?" Demyx pondered, scratching his head.

**I think those are rats** Roxas wrote as fast as he could on the small pad of paper.

"Oh, okay. We-" Demyx stopped himself before stopping to stare at the pad. "You still haven't told me why you have that pad."

**The scientist... Zexian... Zexion?.... gave it to me. He said that it was a... way to prove he would keep the deal.**

"Really? You made a deal too? He's not too bad. Just asks lots of questions. I don't even know the answers to half of 'em. And his voice never changes. Always flat. You ever noticed that Rox?"

Roxas was going to shake his head, but then stopped the action. He had been interrogated by the scientist everyday for the past seven or eight days. And in all that time, Roxas had never heard a single change of tone or inflection in the man's voice. Even his thoughts and emotions, what few he could pick up, never drifted from clinical interest and slightly bored observation.

At the answered nod Demyx commenced talking again. "He hasn't changed at all, not when I've seen him anyway. I wonder if he does feel at all? I mean, it can't be healthy can it?"

Roxas shook his head, picking up his pen again.

**I've never met anyone who's so... flat. His thoughts, his feelings. They never change.**

Roxas was going to write more but was stopped by a sound he hadn't heard since escape. Blaring sirens that had Demyx slamming his hands over his ears.

"Attention to all personnel. Attention to all personnel."

They were both surprised to see two people in light green labs coats open the door and look around their room

"I heard it was a level 3 F-Turn," one of them shouted to their companion over the din of the alarm.

"A Fire Turn would probably have the easiest time getting out. They'd only have to melt their out."

"Attention to all personnel. There has been an escape. Follow procedure for the recapture of a level 3 F-Turn. Follow.."

"See, man. Told ya!" The first replied as they left the room.

Roxas turned to look at Demyx. The other boy was grinning, hands now fisted by his sides. His blue-green eyes were dancing with excitement.

"Someone got out, Roz. A fire weilder got out!" Demyx shouted over the voice from the loud speaker somewhere in the hall outside their room before he reached out and grabbed hold of Roxas's shoulders. "If they got out, so can we! What d'you think Rox? We could get out. I could show what an ocean is. Wouldn't it be great?"

Roxas just sat and stared at his friend, for a long time unable to move. But eventually he smiled, and nodded his head eagerly. He'd keep his promise and take Demyx with him.


	4. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer:** I do not own KH or any of its charcters. Unfortunately I never will.

**A/N:** First of all, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and/or added this story to their favs or alert lists. You have officially made this my most sucessful story to date. I happy, because this is the story I like best. I think I replied to all the reviews, and if I didn't I'm sorry. If you review again, I promise I will this time. I also apologise to those who expected an actual appearance from F-Turn. They will appear soon. Very soon. I promise.

This isn't the longest chapter I've written so far, but it was probably the hardest to write for some reason. Hopefully it's up to par and I get more happy reviews/faves etc.

Oh well, I'll stop rambling now. Do any of you bother to read this bit anyway?

* * *

Never Look Back

Chapter Three

It was hours after the alarm had stopped sounding and Roxas' ears were still ringing. Beside him, Demyx was still buzzing from knowing that someone had escaped. The other blond was fidgeting and singing merry little tunes under his breath, the manic grin still on his face. The corners of his mouth were dotted with crumbs from the meal that had been placed in their cell not long before and Roxas was struggling to resist the urge to smile. It was times like these, when small rays of light were able to shine through the suffocating darkness that Roxas wished he could get his voice to work. He wanted to out loud, shout, sing, anything to release some of the pent up energy, the excitement that someone had succeeded.

**Do you think we could do it?** Roxas wrote on his precious pad of paper before kicking his companion to get their attention.

"Oh yeah, Rox. We can so do it. Not too sure how, though." That little hole in the plan didn't seem to be bothering the other boy, and this time Roxas let an affectionate smile onto his lips for a brief second. But only for a second.

**When I tried**,

Roxas started to write again, knowing that Demyx's eyes were on the pad now. **It was difficult. Really difficult. I only just managed to get out before they realised I was gone. And I've never run up so many flights of stairs in my life. There must have been hundreds of them. And they probably have guards everywhere now. It'd be hard if we tried. But... I think it'd worth a try.**

Demyx was crowing as quietly as he knew how, bouncing slightly in his corner of the cage. "You remember the way?"

Roxas nodded. He didn't think he would be able to forget it even if he wanted to. It was ingrained in his memory in same way it felt like Vexen's face was imprinted on the backs of his eyelids.

"Cool, so we just have to plan it. Maybe I could convince Zexion to let us have a joint interrogation. I'm sure I could come up with a good reason for it."

**Make it logical. Nothing to do with pixies in the corner of the room telling you that you should. Something about being more willing to answer the questions if we are there together. Something like that might work.**

Demyx nodded his head in agreement. "Do you think he'd do it without talking to Vexen first? 'Cause I don't think Vexen would like that idea. Not at all."

**Demyx, you're rambling again.**

Roxas tried to force a disgruntled frown onto his face, but instead ended up smiling.

Demyx laughed. "Rox, I just noticed something."

**This place smells funny, and we could both use a wash?**

"No, even if that's true. You smile more. And you're actually kind of funny when you stop acting so wound up all the time. You're starting to take after your big bro!"

Roxas had never been able to work out how Demyx could possibly find the room to launch himself across the small cell to pull him into those suffocating hugs he seemed to specialise in. But he had learned that it was futile to try and fight him off. He was like a pit-bull; it just made him hang on even tighter.

When Demyx did eventually let go and move back a little, Roxas sat sucking in deep breaths of air as his heart rate slowly returned to normal.

**And stop thinking so loud!!!!!**

Roxas thought that statement was worth the excessive use of exclamation marks. Demyx was now humming a melody out loud, while he sang the words in his mind in an infuriatingly high pitched voice. At times like these he was sure the other boy did it just to annoy him. It wasn't something he would put past his chatter box of an adoptive brother.

Demyx laughed quietly; obviously amused by the slight pout the other boy was now sporting. Having a little brother was so much fun!

-

Zexion looked the subject before him. It had taken him longer than he had expected that it preferred to be referred to as 'Roxas'. But since the use of the name had become common place, the subject had settled down, seemingly more relaxed in his presence and appeared to be answering his questions honestly.

"Roxas, today I would like to start asking you some more specific questions. You've already told me that you have level three telepathic and empathic abilities when your cognitive processes are not hampered by drugs," Zexion stated, looking down at the notes from previous sessions.

"I now want to know if you can tell me more about what these abilities actually entail. Is there a limit on distance for them? If I were to stand one hundred feet from you, would that make it harder to hear my thoughts?"

Roxas thought for a moment or two before picking up the pad and paper.

**The empathy does have limits. The closer the person is the easier it is to sense their emotions. If they are further away, their emotions become... hazy and sort of blend into the strands of emotion. Kind of like a smell, I guess. The telepathy doesn't really have limits, not that I've found anyway. If there are a group of people in the distance their thoughts can sometimes end up jumbled together, but that's about it.**

Roxas looked down at the notepad before handing it over to the scientist. He felt somewhat proud that over the weeks his handwriting had become more legible and his spelling had improved. Zexion didn't ask him to spell out some words as individual letters anymore.

"Are you able to stop your abilities, to seal them off if you do not wish to hear the thoughts of others, or feel their emotions?" Zexion asked as he handed the pad back, obviously satisfied with the answer he had received.

**I can usually block out the thoughts, especially I can't understand what the person is thinking. But it is harder to shut out the emotions, especially if the person whose emotions they are is close by.**

Roxas looked down at the last sentence, not entirely sure if it actually made sense or not. In the end he just shrugged the thought off and handed the pad over to the scientist. He wondered whether or not Demyx had tried to make it so that they would both be out of their cell at the same time. He was starting to get restless again, just like he had before his previous escape attempt.

"Any idea why that is?" Zexion asked and for the first time since they met Roxas felt a shift in the man's emotions. He genuinely curious, not just following the path dictated by scientific interest. The surprise took a few seconds to leave him, even after the scientist had pushed the pad back into his hands.

**Not really. I had thought that maybe it was because all emotions are the same. Sadness, joy, despair, pain, love, hope. They are the same regardless of whose experiencing them. Thoughts always carry something that is specific to the person. I find it easier to block things that are specific, I think. Don't exactly know why it worked out that way though.**

Reading the latest answer, Zexion nodded his head. While he was a little disappointed that the specimen couldn't think of the reason why, he was still impressed by the understanding the subject had of his abilities. The only ones who came close were the specimen Demyx and the F-Turn who had escaped a few days previous and hadn't been seen since. It had certainly left a stir amongst the staff, especially Vexen. Not even the specimen before him had managed to go so long without being returned as the level 3 F-Turn. In Zexion's opinion, if the Turn managed to last another day or so with the level of pursuit it was dealing with it almost deserved to be left to its own devices.

"Are there any times when you seem to be more sensitive to the thoughts and feelings around you?"

**When I'm tired, or ill.**

The answer was almost instantaneous and not unexpected. The scientist jotted down a few points that he would probably investigate further at a later date.

"So, Roxas. Can you remember when your abilities first started to reveal themselves?" Zexion asked as, for the first time in the ten years he had work in the labs, he gave in to his curiosity.

Roxas sat still for a long time, trying to remember when he had first realised what he could do and whether or not he should actually tell the scientist the truth. Of course, if he lied and Zexion found out it would no doubt lead to a special play time with Vexen.

**It was when I was little. Three or four. I'm not sure when exactly.**

Zexion considered the answer. Not too long ago he had asked Demyx the same one, just for slightly different reason. He had received the same answer then. And the escaped level three F-Turn had suggested much the same with the few answers he had been able to ply from the subject on the matter. There was definitely a trend there. He would have to look at the files on the other specimen's to see if the pattern continued.

"In what way did they first manifest themselves?"

**I lived in the ruins, and there was a fight just outside the shelter. Someone got serious hurt. I think it was somebody's son, because the woman who cradled his head looked at him the same way my... It just seemed to hit me. The fear. The worry. The hate and anger at whoever did it. He died. His name was Hayner, I think. I knew him a little. He looked out for me. Stopped the other kids from beating me up too bad. That kind of thing.**

Roxas wasn't sure why he wrote all of those unnecessary details, but for some reason it had felt like he should. He'd already told Demyx the story or most of it anyway. He had thought that would be enough that his friend knew. But he still wanted other people to know that one of the few friends he had ever had was dead. He wanted as many people as possible to remember that Hayner had existed. But the aspect of the situation that he couldn't understand was why he had felt the need to tell a scientist of all people.

He could feel a wave of understanding tinged with pity and felt himself bristle. He didn't need this from a scientist. What did he know anyway?

"Alright, Roxas. That'll be all for today," Zexion said as he buzzed the door open and a woman in a pale green lab coat proceeded to return the specimen to his cage. Zexion found himself unable not to watch him leave. There really was something different about the two blonde specimens. There was a lull in activity that lasted a few minutes before the next specimen was brought in.

"Heya, Zexy. Got any interesting questions for me today?" Demyx asked cheerily as he plonked himself down on the examination table, settling himself with his legs crossed and elbows resting his bony knees.

Zexion sighed. This was going to be a very, _very_ long day.

-

Roxas looked up as the door to the room opened and Demyx stumbled through it followed by a disgruntled looking man in a green lab coat. Two minutes later Demyx was back in the cage looking slightly worn out.

"I'm fine Rox," Demyx told him when he saw his concerned expression. "Honest," the other boy added, forcing a big smile onto his face.

Roxas still looked unsure. Even after a bad playtime with Vexen, the other boy had never looked so tired. His blue-green eyes had lost some of their shine and he was even paler than usual. In wasn't long before the other boy had slumped, his head falling onto Roxas' shoulder as he started to snore lightly. Demyx was a fidgety in sleep as he was when awake and Roxas was beginning to get annoyed with Demyx's almost constant shuffling about to find a comfortable position to sleep in that it took a moment for him to realise that the other boy had finally stopped moving.

Demyx sat up quickly and reached out to bang on the bars of their cage.

"Hey! Guard person. Let me out. I need to pee, like, really badly. C'mon, don't make me do it in the cage. Please, man," Demyx continued to whine and wheedle sounding slightly more desperate with each syllable.

Roxas let out a sigh of relief when the door to the room opened and a man in a dark blue uniform entered the room. As much as he cared about Demyx, he had to draw the line at sitting in the other boy's piss. It was disgusting, and if the guards let it happen again, he would have added vomit to the mix.

A few minutes later, Demyx returned bright and chirpy as ever, his signature grin on his face.

"I didn't tell you did I Rox?" Demyx asked, excitement practically dripping from his every pore. "Zexion gave it the okay. Two days time, he said. D'you hear that Rox? We could be long gone by this time next week!"

Roxas felt himself grinning as the level of Demyx's excitement started to filter into him.

**I think we should try it after seeing Zexion. That way they won't notice so fast.** Roxas scribbled quickly, having to cross out a few misspelt or illegible words along the way. **And I think it's quicker to get to the stairs from the labs anyway. Here, look at this.**

Demyx took the piece of paper that Roxas offered him. It was a map. It wasn't very well drawn, but the pointing out of key rooms and corridors made it easy enough to understand. If anything, Demyx's grin grew even wider.

"You're awesome, Rox. The best brother in the world. Ever." Demyx told him. "Do we have everything down right? I mean, I don't want this to go wrong and have Vexen catch us."

Roxas found himself shuddering at the thought of what being found by the head scientist would mean for them. Certainly a playtime like none before. But to a certain extent he didn't care. He was that much closer to keeping his promise. And there was something in the air this time that made the whole thing seem completely different. He put it down to Demyx's vitality.

-

"Two day sure go quick, huh Rox?" Demyx asked as the door to their cell was opened. "I wonder if we can drive old Zexion loopy between us? I haven't managed it myself, but maybe with two people it will be possible."

Roxas just shrugged, trying to keep the anticipation out of his features.

"Well, y'know Rox, I thin-" Demyx cut himself off with a yelp of pain as one of people in lab coats who were escorting them to Zexion's lab smacked him over the head. Demyx staggered into Roxas who struggled to keep upright.

"Hurry up!" The other man snarled, tugging on the collar around Roxas' neck. "We don't got all day."

When they finally made it to Zexion's lab, the scientist had a faint look of impatience on his face. Demyx paused briefly to look down at Roxas with a grin before tugging him into the room.


	5. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer**: I do not own KH, or any of its characters.

**A/N:** Well, here's the next chapter. What did people think of the previous one? I didn't get any reviews so I don't know if you readers liked it or not. Hopefully you did. And hopefully you'll like this one too. Sorry anyone still waiting for the F-Turn. I did mean to put him in this chpater, but I was running out of steam and it seemed like a good place to stop. Mr. F. Turn will appear in the next chaper. And that's all I'll let you know about it. You'll have to wait and see what happens.

I'm interested to hear what you think will happen next in the story. So even if you don't want to comment on the chapter you could always answer that in a review.

Well, I've waffled on enough for one chapter, on with the story!

* * *

Never Look Back

Chapter Four

Zexion had set up a desk and three chairs, an unused pad of paper and a fresh pen set down neatly on the seat of the farthest chair. The scientist took one of the chairs and motioned for Roxas and Demyx to take the other two.

Even sat down, Roxas was finding it hard not to fidget and was afraid of drawing too much attention to air of anticipation that hung around him and his friend. To him it was palpable, like he could reach out his hand and touch it even run his fingers through it.

"How's it going Zexy?" Demyx asked the scientist, drawing his feet up onto the chair so he could rest his chin on his knees.

Roxas looked at the other boy, totally aghast. Had Demyx really just done that? And Zexion hadn't even blinked, like it was a regular occurrence. But then, this was Demyx. He should've been past the point where things like this surprised him. But what really amazed the boy was the slight, almost non-existent wave of amusement that Zexion had briefly emitted. He shook his head and returned his attention to what the dark haired man was saying.

"Therefore, if these abilities are to be truly under, a potential common denominator must be looked into," Zexion finished, fully aware that the apparently mute subject wasn't listening. "Roxas, if you do not pay attention you will be sent back."

That small statement caught and kept Roxas' attention as his fingers tightened around the edge of the pad of paper. With each second that passed they were getting closer to their goal. Even if Demyx had remembered the map he had drawn, it would be a minor miracle if he got out without the little tricks that Roxas had picked up over his many attempts to get out of the facility. And he didn't want to be left behind if Demyx did manage to make it out and into the world.

"I would also like up see if Roxas is able to pick up any mental or emotional indicators that Demyx is actively using his abilities."

It took Roxas a few moments to remember what Demyx's abilities were. It wasn't a subject they often discussed in any depth. But when Roxas remembered, he chastised himself for forgetting in the first place. Demyx was a water wielder with the additional ability to heal some injuries. It was why the physical punishments never really bothered the other boy, Vexen had yet to discover an injury that Demyx couldn't heal over night. It also explained his never ending supply of energy. He was continually giving himself boosts of energy. What Roxas had never been able to understand was where the boosts came from. Maybe he would get some idea today.

Roxas watched curiously as Zexion rose and filled a large plastic beaker with water from a nearby tap. He set it down in from of Demyx, but raised a hand in a halting gesture before Demyx had a chance to create mischief.

"Roxas." The boy was surprised as he noticed how easily the scientist said his name now, compared to the way it seemed to make him uncomfortable to begin with. "I want you to attempt to sense any change in Demyx's thought patterns or emotions when he is using his abilities. I want you to inform me of any change that occurs, no matter how small. Do you understand me?"

Roxas nodded his head quickly before closing his eyes and trying to focus on the jumble of thoughts and feelings that was Demyx. He could feel the other boy's excitement, anticipation and hope, the most obvious surface emotions the boy was feeling. But Roxas suspected that if there was to be any change when Demyx started to use his abilities it would be easier to find in the deeper recesses of his mind. As he dug a little deeper, he was vaguely aware of a gasp of surprise. There was a sudden shift in Demyx's emotions and he wrenched himself from the other boy's mind so he could see if he was hurting him at all.

When he opened his eyes he saw Demyx and Zexion staring at him, eyes wide with surprise and no small amount of shock.

**What?**

His scribbled question seemed to bring Zexion's attention back into the present, the scientist flinching backwards into his seat as he blinked repeatedly. But it was Demyx who spoke.

"You were _glowing_ Rox. Like, really glowing. I could feel you in my head. It tickled, in case either of you were wondering. The further I could feel you going in my head, the brighter you were glowing. It was amazing!" Demyx's face was split by a wide grin as his blue-green eyes danced with barely suppressed excitement.

"It is indeed an interesting occurrence, and one it seems you were unaware of." Zexion added, his expression neutral once more. "But if you are both ready, could you please start again."

Roxas looked up at the other boy, who nodded as he smiled cheerily down at him. Roxas took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he closed his eyes again. He was quicker at making his way into Demyx's mind this time and it didn't take long to wriggle down into the deeper layers. Beneath the excitement and hope was a distinctly darker layer of fear, pain and quietly simmering anger. It made him feel a little uneasy how similar the mixture of emotions was to his own, the only difference was that the other boy was better able to push them down and ignore them. Normally, Roxas would only be able to feel them on the worst days, when he or Demyx had suffered particularly badly under the hands of Vexen or his underlings. But now that he had found them they were so strong that tendrils were creeping into his own mind, and he could feel his hands clenching in angry fists.

Roxas moved slowly through this layer, worried that he would stir up the negative emotions like dirt on a river bed. Then, almost without him noticing, he somewhere else, somewhere where emotions had no place and were meaningless. Before him was a swirling mass of bright and florescent colours, rolling backwards and forwards like the tumultuous waves that Demyx had told him about. He was looking at the Core of Demyx.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when the shift happened. The swirling mass seemed to become more violent, the colours darkened like the storm clouds he remembered from before he was captured. For a horrifying moment Roxas thought he might be drawn in and drown under the sheer force that the Core had become.

But just when Roxas thought he would run out of strength and be sucked into the vortex, the Core fell calm again. The streams of what Roxas assumed was Demyx's soul brightened once more and Roxas felt that same security he had long associated with the other boy. Somehow he knew that in the more superficial layers, Demyx would be as excitable as ever and that was the strangest thing about the whole situation. Even when Demyx was acting the idiot to know that he would have this calm, steady Core and it seemed wrong somehow that his adoptive brother was a walking, talking oxymoron. Feeling that he had seen enough, Roxas started to weave his way back out of Demyx's mind.

When at last he opened his eyes again, he found that everything about him felt heavy and weighed down. It5 felt like it took a mountain of energy to just shift his gaze between a beaming blond and the scientist whose face was blank but for the flash of almost childish curiosity in his dark eyes.

"Was there any change?" Zexion asked his voice not quite as emotionless as it usually was.

"Yeah, Rox. Was there? Hey? Hey?" Demyx demanded to know, literally bouncing his seat.

**The Core was fairly calm to begin with, rolling backwards and forwards like the waves Demyx told me about. The Core was filled with bright colours. Then it all got darker and the Core was almost violent. Then after a while, I'm not sure how long, it all calmed down again.**

Roxas showed his answer to Demyx first and then Zexion, a little surprised to feel the same level of excitement from each. As he read the answer, Zexion even allowed himself a slight smile before handing the pad back to Roxas.

"What is this Core, you were talking about?" Zexion asked after having made a few notes.

**A person has layers, mostly associated with emotion. The top layer is the thoughts and emotions that they are conscious of and can control. Then there is a second layer with the thoughts and feelings either they don't like and won't admit to, or simply don't know exist. Most people can't control these very well. These are the ones that are 'bottled up' and just erupt out when the pressure they exert becomes too much. **

**Then you have the Core. In the Core there are no thoughts, no emotions that can be sensed, just the essence of the person. For each person it's a different colour and shape and each Core has its own... temperament almost. I think it might be the soul, or at least part of it.**

Seeing the answer, Zexion nodded his head making the fringe of hair fall further across his face as he quickly wrote something the blond couldn't see.

Demyx just looked slightly perplexed, which was understandable Roxas supposed. When he had first realised this, he had been scared to even be in the same room as another person for fear of falling into their Core and not be able to leave.

"What's mine really like?" Demyx asked, his blond head tilted slightly to the side as he looked at his friend.

**I'll tell you later.** Roxas wrote and thrust the pad into the other boy's face before drawing it back to himself and turning to a clean page.

"Demyx, when Roxas was looking at your... Core... did you notice anything different? You said before that it tickled."

The older boy turned his attention to the scientist, frowning slightly in thought. "It started off ticklish, just like the first time. But when I was messing about with the water..." Demyx paused and gestured at the beaker where the surface of the water was still quivering slightly. "Then it was like I had more energy, it was easier to make the water do what I wanted." The boy shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure if that makes me sound like an idiot or not."

"No, it's extremely interesting, Demyx." Zexion mumbled, obviously not paying attention as his tone softened as the sentence progressed. "That will be all for today."

Roxas and Demyx rose slowly from their seats and edged towards the door, Roxas holding his pad of paper and pen to his chest. As they entered the hallway and felt the presence of their escort, they glanced at each other and gave each other a barely noticeable nod of the head.

Two minutes later, exactly, the sound of one muffled thump followed another. The two boys, with their skinny limb and almost non-existent muscles struggled to drag the two guards into a cupboard in the black spot between two security cameras. Roxas found himself blessing and cursing the person who decided to put a cupboard which had its lowest side level with his shoulder. In the end, he and Demyx had to work together to shove the bodies into the high cupboard.

Looking back, Roxas hoped that nobody would notice the dark marks on the walls or the small red spots on the floor. Then he turned back and closed the cupboard door with a faint click.

"Not good," Demyx muttered slowly when he saw Zexion leave his room and notice them.

The two boys turned and started to walk down the corridor. Behind them, Roxas could hear the heavy footfalls of Zexions' boots and feel the anger that had risen up in him. It made him worry. He had never felt anger coming from the scientist before. He had always thought that Zexion getting angry would be like Vexen showing compassion; an impossibility. To know that it could actually happen scared him more than if the scientist had called for Vexen.

Without even consciously making the decision, Roxas and Demyx had started to run. Roxas counting the turns as they ran. First right. Second left followed by an immediate right. Behind them, Zexion sounded like he was getting closer and Roxas could begin to feel frustration on top of the anger.

Roxas grabbed hold of Demyx's arm as he yanked him down another, obviously smaller passage that the other boy had missed. As they continued down the passage, it got steadily darker until they were eventually running in a gloom that turned the shadows into monsters. Behind them Zexion's heavy foot falls had started to echo, distorting Roxas' ability to guess the distance that separated them.

"Which one?" He heard Demyx ask, between laboured breaths. "I can't remember which door it is." Now he sounded almost frantic and Roxas felt a sudden, unexpected wave of fear wash over him as Demyx's steps faltered.

Roxas let his gaze flick from door to door until his found the one he was searching for. It looked to be a few hundred yards from them. Roxas pointed it out to Demyx, weaving slightly as his centre of balance was disrupted by the movement of his arm. In his hand, he still held the pad and pen, a surprise. He'd though he had dropped it a long way back.

Beside him, Roxas felt Demyx release a burst of energy, and when he felt a sweaty hand on his arm, he felt some of his approaching exhaustion leave him so that he had the energy to keep pace with Demyx.

To Roxas, it seemed like an age had passed before they reached the door, Zexion's footfalls gaining on them quickly and they stopped tried to open the door. They fumbled with the handle, Demyx slamming his bony shoulder against the door. They knew it wasn't shut, the door was too easily jostled for that.

It was until Zexion collided with them that the additional force opened the door and propelled them through the doorway. They landed on the damp concrete floor in a tangle of limbs and a stream of curses.

Demyx and Roxas were the first to get to their feet, their bodies accustomed to scrapes and bruises, just as the door swung shut. They didn't stop to see was Zexion was doing before they sprinted for the stairs a few yards in front of them.

Neither of them was sure where the burst of energy originated that fuelled their climb up the hundreds of steps, but Roxas decided he would thank Demyx and adrenaline for the continued ability to pick up his feet and move them up to the next step.

As they climbed higher, Roxas could smell a change in the air at the same rate he could hear and feel Zexion closing in on them again. He wasn't sure how long it took for them to reach the top, but it felt like hours and he probably wasn't far wrong.

Roxas knew, as they passed teh control panel, that Zexion would probably activate the closing of the thick doors a few hundred yards in front of them. He also knew that if Zexion didn't one of the unarmed security guards were likely to see them and do it themselves. He just hoped that he and Demyx were able to reach teh outside before the doors closed.

He could hear Demyx's harsh breaths coming from beside him. Either he didn't have the time or the ability to maintain ease and energy that he had possessed for most of the climb up the stairs. Roxas tried to ignore the burning pain in his muscles, the sting in his throat every time his drew breath. It was harder to run now, his bare soles bloody and sore and with pain shooting up his legs with each stride. They should have thought of a way to get some shoes.

It wasn't until they were just a few steps from the doors that the alarm was sounded, harsh and tiny through ill kept speakers. It obviously wasn't Zexion who had set it off. He was too close behind them to have stopped and entered whatever code was required for the task.

Roxas was never sure how they managed to get to the outside. Just like he drew a blank when he attempted to remember how he had managed it on his previous escape attempt. But he knew that they were now outside and that the doors that were built to keep them in had locked them out. For a brief moment he felt giddy and wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. For an even shorter moment, he considered whether or not Zexion had followed them out, or remained inside the facility.

As the two boys continued to run, he felt Demyx take hold of his wrist. The other boy's hand was slick with sweat and Demyx had to continually change his grip or else let go of his brother in the dense fog. It wasn't as thick as last time, Roxas noted. Rays of pale sun were able to reach the surface and Roxas could see Demyx running beside him.

They continued to run until the air around them started to cool. They stopped in the shelter of a massive pile of rubble. Roxas focused on his breathing as Demyx's fingers tightened around his wrist.

"We've done it, Rox. We're really outside." Demyx was too exhausted to muster much of a smile as he looked down at his adoptive brother but the slight tilt of the lips was enough to let Roxas know that the other boy meant what he said. "But my feet sort of hurt though."

As they didn't have to worry so much about running, if there were people after them neither of the boys could hear them, Demyx focused on trying to heal their feet. When he was done, Roxas could see that the skin on the bottoms of his feet was slightly pink. He wasn't sure if that was what Demyx healed skin looked like, or if it was scar tissue.

Roxas sighed as most of the pain left his body and let his head fall against Demyx's arm, the other boy too tall for his head to rest on his bony shoulder. He sat like that, rubble digging into his back until he heard shouts and the sound of metal grinding against stone as someone climbed up the other side of the pile of rubble.

Roxas barely had the time to wonder why he hadn't felt the presences as he scrambled to his feet. Beside him, he heard Demyx cry out in pain seconds before he heard a faint whistle of something moving through the air to come into contact with his head. In the seconds before he lost consciousness, Roxas felt like he was going to cry. They hadn't even had the freedom to sit and rest in peace in the pale sunlight before being caught again.

He hoped they wouldn't hurt Demyx anymore than they already had.


	6. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer:** I do not own KH or any of its characters. I'm just borrowing them for a bit, okay?

I'd like to thank anyone who reviewed or added this story to their faves/alerts. This is now my most successful story. And I would like to say that I didn't plan for this chapter to end up like this, it just happened. And I'm sorry it took longer to update than usual. This chapter just didn't want to be written.

And the moment you've all been waiting for (or some of you at least)! Mr F Turn makes his grand entrance. I thought he was fun to write, and I hope you all like him too.

Well, it's time for the next chapter, so I'll shut up now.

* * *

Never Look Back

Chapter Five

Roxas regained consciousness slowly. His hearing seemed to return the fastest of all his senses. He could hear shuffling and mumbling from left and right. He didn't know if it was Demyx beside him or if it was somebody else. But as his vision he saw that, yes, it was his adoptive brother, but it was hard to tell if he was hurt in the gloom that surrounded them. It took him a few seconds to realise that the gloom was out of place in the labs. If they were being punished by Vexen they were always put in a pitch black room that was sound proof so they couldn't see or hear, or in a room with lights so bright they couldn't sleep for days on end. To Vexen gloom with some sight and full array of sounds was not an acceptable punishment for escaped Turns.

Beside him, Demyx mumbled in his sleep and shuffled closer to his warmth. Roxas looked his friend over, running his fingers gently over the dirty skin to feel for unhealed cuts or broken bones. Nothing. He let himself sigh with relief as a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Now he knew that Demyx would be fine he checked himself. His legs were littered with cuts and bruises, some visible even through muck and gloom. His feet were throbbing, and when he tried to shift his right foot and sharp pain shot up the leg from ankle to hip making him hiss in pain. He knew there was something wrong with the index finger on his right hand and his left wrist was swollen and stiff but he couldn't be sure how bad it was. His chest hurt with each breath he drew, probably from damaged ribs. But it was his head that hurt the most. A piercing pain emanated from a sizable gash that he could feel on the back of his head, leaving his blond hair tacky with blood and making his eyes water. It made him grateful for the gloom. He was sure that anything brighter would have only made the pain worse.

That left him with a couple of unanswered questions. He had no idea where they were, or who the other person shrouded in shadow was. Thinking logically, they couldn't be in the labs. There wasn't the smell of disinfectant lingering in the air, and the walls around them gave them too much space and looked look much like conveniently place piles of rubble. But from what he could remember, they had been captured. That must mean that there were people on the surface. Looking around him, he wasn't sure whether the thought scared him or gave him hope that he and Demyx could find a way to manage it. He pushed the thought from his mind. He'd probably find out the answer soon enough anyway, for good or bad.

From across the room he saw the person move so that their back was leaning against the wall. Roxas wanted to laugh or snigger but knew he couldn't and instead he felt smile cross his face. He'd thought that they had left the scientist behind after leaving the labs, but there was Zexion still wearing his white lab coat. Roxas could just make out the scientist clutching his stomach as though he was scared his innards would spill out if he let go and wondered what had happened to him.

Beside him, he could hear Demyx starting to grumble groggily as he woke up, his words slurred and his voice raspy from dehydration. "Rox? Where're we? Don' li' it."

Until he reached out for his pad and pen he hadn't realised that he had lost them. He'd gotten so used to being and able his answers that for a moment he sat dumb. But after he had gotten over his shock he nudged his shoulder against the other blond to gain his attention and then shrugged slowly.

"Zexy's here!" Demyx cheered a few minutes later after rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Thought we left him behind. And this place stinks."

Roxas snorted through his nose at Demyx's inability to keep on one topic. It was somewhat heartening to know that no matter what the situation the other boy would always be the same.

"You're hurt!" Demyx sounded frightened as he finally noticed Roxas' injuries. Before Roxas had time to flinch, Demyx had laid a couple of cool fingers on his cheek. "I'm not sure if I have enough energy to heal everything, Rox, but I'll try."

Roxas knew the instant that Demyx unleashed the healing energy. It tickled, and for some reason made him want to sneeze. He watched as some of his smaller cuts and bruises faded into nonexistence. He could feel the gash on the back of his head draw together and start to heal. There was a small crack as the bones in his wrist and ankle were slotted back into their correct positions. He sighed in relief as his ribs healed and he was able to breathe without feeling any pain once more.

Just as the last vestige of pain left his body, Roxas felt Demyx slump against him before starting to snore lightly. Like so many other times since Roxas had met Demyx, he wished he was able to speak so that he could say the words 'thank you' properly. It had been so long since he had been able to speak that he couldn't even remember what his voice sounded like.

A stream of curses and swear words dragged Roxas' attention to the man on the other side of the small room. Roxas cringed slightly at the waves of pure fury that were flowing around the scientist. He had never felt anything that sent such a chill to his bones, not even when Vexen was absolutely livid over something. He caught snippets of the man's thoughts, and from what he could decipher very little of what Zexion was thinking was directly associated with either Demyx or himself, which he could help but be surprised by.

"You have no idea where we are, do you Roxas?" Zexion's voice, despite the strength of emotions that were radiating from the man, was almost as flat and monotonous as it had always been. "Obviously, you never came across this place during your previous travels. Not surprising, all things considered. Not even the Director knows it exists."

Just for an instant, before the actual meaning of Zexion's words had sunk in, Roxas thought that the scientist sounded almost like Demyx with his near constant flow of wards. But as the meaning and implications of what the scientist said came to his mind, Roxas also felt worry well up inside of him. The labs didn't even know about this place? That must mean that they were miles and miles from where he and Demyx had been captured. And if they weren't in the labs as Roxas had suspected, who had captured them? Were they just being cautious in keeping them in the cell, or should they fear for their lives? And how far had they travelled while unconscious? And Roxas, for all he had been kept in the labs for years, had never heard of the Director.

"Did you regain consciousness at any point between where you were caught and here?" Zexion asked, leaning forward slightly as he watched Roxas.

For a second time, Roxas reached for the pad and pen that weren't there. For a few seconds, he hung his head before raising it again to look straight back at the scientist. He shook his head, wondering briefly if the man would be able to see the action through the gloom.

"Pity, it would have been useful to at least know in which direction we had been taken." Zexion muttered, leaning back against the wall with a grimace.

Beside him, Roxas felt Demyx pushing himself upright with one arm as he raised his other hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. Roxas was a little surprised at first; he had expected the other boy to sleep for much longer after all the healing he had had to do.

"Hey, Zexy. You hurt?" Demyx asked the dark haired man, keeping his voice low out of habit.

There was a long silence before Zexion answered. "A little," he conceded.

With a quick nod, Demyx pushed himself to his feet. He walked slowly over to Zexion, head tilted to the side to avoid catching the low ceiling.

Roxas watched as Demyx crouched down in front of the scientist and reached out a hand. Roxas wasn't sure how long it took Demyx to heal whatever injuries that Zexion had collected, but his was amused by the look on the man's face as the blond boy worked. The man looked uncomfortable and slightly irritated. But Roxas could also feel an undercurrent of relief and gratitude.

When he was finished, Demyx moved back across the room to sit next to Roxas again. He put his left arm round his shoulders and like always Roxas wasn't sure who needed the reassurance more. After a short squeeze Demyx let Roxas go and turned his attention to Zexion.

"You're not _too_ angry at us, are you Zexy?" Demyx asked, sounding anxious. Roxas had never been able to understand how or why his friend was able to genuinely care about what happened to the scientist. While Roxas was able to admit that Zexion was by far the most respectful and, dare he say it, kind member of staff at the labs he was still a part of the same system that allowed Vexen to terrorise its prisoners.

There was a long pause and Roxas knew that Demyx would have started to gnaw at his lower lip nervously and pick at the ragged hem of his t-shirt.

"What you did was... understandable if ill conceived." Zexion actually allowed emotion to enter his voice as his spoke, but Roxas couldn't quite trace what the feeling was. Most the fury had receded and had been replaced by what Roxas could only call resignation. "I think you made the better choice."

"Huh?" Demyx mumbled his brow furrowing as he puzzled over Zexion's statement. Roxas decided he agreed after trying and failing to make sense of the comment.

From across the room, they heard the scientist sigh. "You deserve the truth, so I will tell you."

As Zexion spoke, Roxas got the inkling that the man was talking more about Demyx and his healing than anything else. Roxas turned his head to glance at his friend to find that he could see, even through the gloom that the blue-green eyes were brimming with interest.

"I'm a level three Turn, like the pair of you." Zexion stated, but then he stopped talking.

"What kind?" Demyx asked and Roxas could feel that Demyx was trying to suppress his curiosity.

Roxas watched a Zexion seemed to shimmer. The colour of the man's skin paled slightly and he was sure the same shift in colour happened to his hair but couldn't be entirely sure due to the lack of light. The man's eyes shone in through the darkness. They were deep grey, with pupils like a cat's. Roxas gaped as he saw wings appear at Zexion's back. The man had to extend them slightly to allow room for their length and that allowed Roxas to see that there were no feathers like he would have expected. Instead, the wings were more akin to a bat's, with thin films of skin stretched between fingers of bone. Just like the shade of the man's hair, Roxas found it impossible to pin point the colour of the wings.

"Wow," Demyx breathed. "Just... wow."

Roxas felt himself nod in agreement, still quite shocked by the revelation.

"How does having wings make you a level three though?" Demyx wondered.

Level three meant that the Turn's abilities were potentially uncontrollable. Roxas couldn't stop his abilities and or even really filter the thoughts and feelings that drifted around and his ability to get to the Core of a person. Roxas knew that Demyx's connection with water was so instinctive that if his emotions were extreme enough and water that he was near would respond. Once, when Demyx was particularly upset the water that they had been given formed a kind of spear that moved with such force that it bored a hole through the wall if the room their cell had been in.

"It doesn't," Zexion replied, and Roxas was sure that he caught a note of amusement in the man's voice. "But, I can cast illusions on all the senses. And I haven't found a limit to the number of people who I can make subject to a single one." As Zexion continued to talk, Roxas was surprised to find that the man didn't feel any pride at all.

Roxas wanted to know if the man had any limits that he did know of, but had no way to ask. He was distracted from his train of thought by the feeling of a mix of thought and emotion coming from the other side of the door to Zexion's right.

"What-.." Demyx's question was cut off by the sound of someone stopping outside the room and putting a key in the lock.

All three of the room's residents turned to watch as the door opened, the un-oiled hinges groaning in protest. The door wasn't even half way open before a tall, lanky figure stumbled into the room. A tray of food and water was dumped on the floor and then the door was slammed shut again.

Roxas turned his attention to their new cellmate, who had slumped against the wall to his and Demyx's right. He looked like he would be taller than Demyx if the two were to stand side by side. His hair looked as though it would be bright if washed, and that it probably wouldn't be blond even then. So, he was a redhead? His vibrant green eyes darted between them suspiciously, before they focused on Zexion and widen in shock. It was then that Roxas noticed the dark, symmetrical marks under his eyes clearly visible against the dirt and pale skin.

"You!" The newcomer's voice was harsh as he glared at Zexion.

"You know Zexy?" Demyx asked, apparently unsure of how to act around the stranger.

"I know him alright." The words were hissed between clenched teeth as fire started to dance around the stranger's fists. "I should kill him now." The man growled.

As Roxas watched, he saw the flames at his hands grow larger and wilder. He was starting to feel dizzy under the Emotional Storm that the stranger was battering his mind with.

"Hey! Stop it, you're hurting Roxas!" Demyx shouted, as he saw his friend scream silently, his small hands pulling harshly at his spiked hair.

Demyx watched as the two other people in the room turned to look at Roxas. Zexion looked genuinely worried to Demyx's eyes, as he crept closer to them. The other, the stranger, let the flames die and looked guiltily at the boy Demyx was now rocking gently in his arms while singing softly.

Roxas slowly relaxed again as the Storm eased off, comforted by the ocean lullaby that he now knew off by heart.

"Is... Is he going to be alright?" The stranger asked, frowning slightly.

"He should be." To Roxas' surprise, it was Zexion who answered, his calm, monotonous voice dispersing the last remnants of the Storm.

"What do you know about?" the stranger asked, sounding angry once more.

"I've spent a lot of time working with him. You overloaded his senses." Zexion stated, as he looked closely at the shaking boy. Obviously paler than before, but the colour was returning. He even looked a little embarrassed, if the scientist was any judge.

The stranger threw a piercing glare at the scientist, but it fell away as he looked at him again, noticing the wings.

"You're a Turn?" the stranger asked, and Roxas could feel just how shocked the stranger was. "Explain." He demanded, the glare returning.

"Yes, I am. And I will explain later. I am hungry." Zexion replied, reaching for a piece of _something_ from the tray, not entirely sure what it was he would be about to eat.

"What's your name?" Demyx asked tentatively.

The stranger regarded him for a long time before answering.

"I'm Axel, got it memorized?" He replied with a smirk. "And who're you?" Axel added, as he looked between the two blonds.

"I'm Demyx and this is Roxas." Demyx answered, more at ease now Axel had calmed down.

"Why are you always talking for him? Why can't you let him speak for himself?"

Roxas felt Demyx's anger flare up as he dropped his eyes to the floor. He could feel the blush spreading across his face and hoped neither of the other two would be able to see it under the dirt on his face.

"He can't talk. Hasn't been able to since I've known him. And he's my brother, so you better be nice to him, or I'll drown you."

Roxas looked up at Demyx surprised by the fierceness of his voice and emotions. He never heard Demyx threaten anyone before and was shocked to realise that he meant every word he had just said.

Axel raised his hands in a calming gesture as he heard the water sloshing in the cups on the tray.

"I'm sorry, Roxas." Axel bowed his head to the smaller blond and Roxas found himself smiling uncertainly.

"Zexy, could you pass me an' Rox some of that food?" Demyx asked, not noticing Axel's flinch at the use of the scientist's name or the irritated grumble that sounded suspiciously like a string of expletives that came from the dark haired man.


	7. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

**A/N:** I'm sorry it took me a (relatively) long time to post again. I sort of ran out of steam half way through this chapter. It's not quite as long as the last two, I hope you don't mind ot much.

I would like to thank the reviewers and anyoen who added the story to their faves and/or alerts since time. I've lost track of who added the story when.

Apart from that, I don't have much to say this chapter. So on with the story!

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Never Look Back

Chapter Six

Roxas wasn't sure what it was he was eating but he knew it tasted terrible. He almost wished he was back in the labs eating stale bread. Beside him, Demyx was munching away happily, talking inanely through his mouthful of food to Axel and Zexion who were both ignoring everything he said quite successfully. The scientist, Roxas couldn't think of him in any other terms, sat with his wings half unfurled so that the delicate tips of bone weren't being damaged by the stone floor, sipping water slowly from his cup. Axel had eaten the food as soon as he had gotten his hands on it and drank his water in one gulp and now sat glaring at the scientist, fire occasionally dancing around his finger tips.

Roxas found himself scared to move in case all of the rage that was building up inside the fire Turn was unleashed in his direction. He had never felt such raw anger from anyone before. He knew Demyx had explained the fundamentals of his abilities for Axel and that the other was trying to keep his emotions in check, and he was doing well enough that Roxas hadn't yet had another Storm.

"This is awesome! How did you get out? We took the stairs. There is definitely way too many of the things. On and on they went. I didn't think they were ever going to end." Demyx waved his arms wildly as he spoke as always, and like every time before Roxas had to dodge the flailing limbs.

"I could say the same about you," Roxas heard Axel mutter under his breath before shaking his head slightly. "And it doesn't matter how I got out. I just did, okay?" The supposed redhead snapped as the flames at his fingertips flared.

Roxas found himself wondering if annoyance and hate were the only emotions the man was capable of. True, he had felt smidgeon of guilt from the Fire Turn after Demyx had explained the Emotional Storm, but it had disappeared in seconds to be replaced by the simmering hate and anger.

"I want to know that _that_ is doing here." Axel spat out the words with obvious distaste and a jerk of his sharp chin in the scientist's direction. "The thing should be hung by its entrails for what it's done. If it really is a Turn that just makes what it did even worse."

As Roxas sat silently watching him, he was sure that he had seen flames dancing in the other Turns' eyes as he talked to Demyx. He could stop himself from attempting to generate a plausible reason for Axel to be filled with fury. From what he had heard and seen, Zexion had never actively sought to harm any of the prisoners in the labs. Perhaps Axel was angry at someone who had been a part of the institution that had made him a walking, talking science experiment. Roxas would be able to understand that, after all he still didn't trust Zexion even if he was growing increasingly accustomed to the man's presence. Roxas couldn't be sure where the animosity came from unless one or the other of them told him, and it irritated him.

Roxas nudged Demyx and raised an eyebrow when the other blond turned to look at him. Over the months they had known each other, Roxas had become adept at talking without saying a word and Demyx could read it like a book.

"Hey Ax, Rox wants to know what your problem is." Demyx said and then went back to eating the last of his food, oblivious to how rude the statement had sounded.

Roxas flinched as Axel's withering glare was turned to him. After a long few seconds most of the anger left the green eyes and the temperature in the room dropped as turned off the flames that had flickered around his fists. Roxas could feel him forcing himself to calm down, to push the burning rage down until it just simmering anger.

"My problem, little Roxas, is that that _thing_ is still alive. But you'll have to wait a little bit unil I tell you why, you got it?" As he talked, Roxas could tell that Axel was barely keeping his temper under control. He was shaking, and beneath the grime he looked paler and his lips were thin and drawn into a ferocious snarl. "Sweet little Roxy, am I scaring you?"

Roxas shook his head in an untrue denial as he felt Demyx's long arm wrap itself around his shoulders. "Leave him alone! He hasn't done anything to you, has he? Huh? No. So be nice to my little brother or I _will_ hurt you Axel."

The cold, biting tone of Demyx's voice made Roxas uneasy so he buried his face in the other boy's shoulder, fist clutching a handful of his friend's ratty t-shirt.

"Fine." Axel's voice was clipped and Roxas didn't have to look to know that the piercing glare had returned. "But only if that thing tells its little sob story. I'm so curious. Maybe if it's convincing I won't fry him."

Roxas felt the surge of heat and looked up just in time to see Axel launch a ball of flame at the scientist. Roxas stared as the flame fizzled out centimetres from Zexion's face. The scientist didn't flinch, or even blink from where he had returned to the corner.

"Axel! What are you doing?" Demyx screeched, as he pulled Roxas in tighter. "You could get us all killed!"

Axel sneered. "There are worse things than death."

When Roxas lifted his gaze up to Axel's eyes he felt his blood run cold. Seconds before the green eyes had been alive; filled with hate and anger, yes, put there had been life behind it. But now he could see nothing and could feel nothing but gut wrenching pain from the redhead. The few thoughts that Roxas was able to gather together seemed to be disjointed memories and there was an agonised cry being repeated over and over in the other's mind.

"You should not be angry and them, Axel. They haven't done anything to warrant your treatment of them." Zexion's voice cut through the silence that had followed Axel's words and seemed to echo off the walls. "I will tell you why I did what I did if you are willing to listen."

At the sound of Zexion's voice Axel's jaw clenched and Roxas could see him shaking as he clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly. But then Axel seemed to deflate, and Roxas felt guilt entering to mixture of Axel's emotions.

"I'm sorry." Axel whispered as one of this thin, bony hands reached towards them. Roxas saw pain flash across his face as he drew away from the redhead. The fire Turn sighed and let his hand fall back to his side.

"I will forgive you on one condition." Axel's gaze snapped to Demyx as he started talking, raising an eyebrow slightly in question. "Treat Roxas properly and don't do anything to hurt him and I'll forgive you."

Roxas watched as Axel's vibrant eyes widened in comprehension. He continued to stare as Axel nodded his head jerkily, but any uncertainty the action might have suggested was negated by the firm set of his jaw. Roxas couldn't look away as Axel met his gaze and attempted to smile. After a few moments the smile faltered and he started to turn away, the green eyes dimming once again as the hope left them.

Roxas didn't know why, but seeing the light leave Axel's eyes was like seeing Demyx without his cheeriness. It made him feel heavy and it seemed to draw his own hope from him. Without really thinking, he tentatively reached out his hand, rising into a crouch when he couldn't reach from where he sat. By the time he caught hold of Axel's hand he was shaking nervously, unsure of if the redhead's fire would suddenly flare into life and burn him. The first thing he noticed was the warmth. Just like Demyx's fingers were cooler than normal, Axel's were almost scorching hot. As he gained a little confidence, his grip tightened and he could feel some of the warmth seep into him.

He tugged gently on Axel's arm before sitting back down again, drawing the other boy with him. He wanted to laugh as, with a jolt, Axel's long legs buckled under him and the redhead ended up half sprawled over Roxas.

Beside him, Roxas heard Demyx chuckle and he was sure he heard a snort of amusement from the stoic scientist.

Apparently Axel had heard it as well because his hold on Roxas's fingers tightened so that it was almost painful and Roxas could feel the anger rising again inside the redhead. It seemed like Axel's entire body tensed as he turned to regard the scientist with a look of disgust twisting his features.

"Go on then. Talk!" Axel spat, and Roxas could feel the rough skin of his hand warming at an alarming rate.

From across the room, Roxas heard Zexion draw a deep breath and rustling as the scientist shifted his wings into a more comfortable position. To his right, Roxas could feel Demyx brimming with excitement and almost childish curiosity; the boy's arm leaving Roxas's shoulders so that Demyx could nibble at the thumb nail. Axel, although obviously and unrepentantly angry, was also curious about what the scientist would have to say for himself.

"I was born with my wings into a community that detested Turns. My mother kept me, for some reason choosing not to leave me to die in the wastes like most of the other Turns that were born there. She disappeared sometime during my fourth year and I haven't seen or heard of her since." Zexion spoke in his usual monotone and Roxas couldn't feel any sadness from the man as he spoke, reliving those old memories.

"Get on with it," Axel muttered, agitated only to mumble a disgruntled apology after Roxas nudged his ribs with a sharp bony elbow.

"I was about seven or eight when I learned how to cast an illusion. The first thing I did was hide my wings. Then I broke into one of the houses and stole enough food to last a while and left. Not long after I became ill, delirious almost."

At this point Axel snorted derisively. "Shame it didn't die," he muttered, looking only a little remorseful when he saw Roxas glaring at him.

"I fell down a ravine and was knocked unconscious. When I awoke, I was in a white room. I later learned that it was the quarantine room in the labs. I think I was kept there for a month before Vexen came personally to move me." Even Zexion said the other scientist's name with distaste, something Roxas hadn't noticed before.

"It was before it was customary to put the test subjects into individual cells. Instead they placed small groups in rooms together. Incidentally, Roxas and Demyx were in the room I was kept in."

To his right Roxas heard Demyx mumble something under his breath. When he turned to look at his friend, the other blonde's only response to his questioning gaze was a dismissive shrug of his bony shoulders and a slightly astonished expression.

"They never discovered that I am a Turn. Or if they did they never acted on the knowledge that I am aware of. But that didn't stop the experiments. Apparently they were studying the more general effects of the radiation fallout on humans, and as such everyone they encountered was considered an experiment. I know for a fact that I have more scars than you three put together."

"Who cares?" Axel muttered, unmoved by Zexion's story. "Doesn't change the fact that you are still a monster." As Axel spoke, the hand that held Roxas' grew warmer again and flames started to dance around his other fist and Roxas could hear him debating whether it would be worth killing Zexion before he had finished explaining himself.

Zexion continued as if he hadn't heard Axel speak. "When I was about sixteen a boy arrived. He said he was from the same community as me. I didn't remember him, but he told me that he remembered me well. I became friends with him of sorts. I became friends with him against my better judgement."

Zexion sighed and from across the room Roxas was sure that he had dropped his head dejectedly. Roxas could feel guilt welling up in the dark haired Turn, even if it didn't show in the man's voice or expression.

"His name was Sora. Even most of the lab staff avoided hurting him. I remember one of the other subjects in the room called him a ray of sunshine. I would have agreed with him at the time if I had been able to remember what sunshine actually was. He was a rare person. I would have died to protect him if I had been given the option."

Roxas was sure that he could hear tears in Zexion's voice. It felt strange to hear Zexion talking about Sora in the same terms as he thought of Demyx. And it wasn't false either. That was the most shocking thing. Behind the mask, Zexion was genuinely in pain. Roxas could feel sympathy rolling out of Demyx and even Axel stayed silent. Roxas could feel his fingers starting to go numb, but didn't think that it was the moment to ask to be released, not when Roxas could finally feel something akin to composure from the redhead, even if most of the outward hostility hadn't left.

"They haven't dumped the test subjects for a long time. Now they prefer to dissect them after death. But when one of the experiments was too much for Sora they dumped him. None of knew where, even afterwards when I worked for the labs I was unable to find out what they had actually done with his body. But before that, he was returned to the room. He was barely recognisable. He didn't smile. The light had left his eyes. And he refused to talk except to make me promise him something." Zexion stopped talking, and Roxas could hear shuffling as he rearranged his wings, an action Roxas was starting to associate with Zexion feeling uncomfortable.

"What did you promise him, Zexy?" Demyx's voice was soft, almost uncertain of itself as it asked the question.

There was a heavy silence between the four of them as they waited for Zexion's answer.

"Not to die." Zexion's whispered words carried easily across the room. "To stay alive no matter what."

"So you did, by any means necessary." Roxas was surprised that the first of them to respond was Axel. "You became one of them because that was the best way to stay alive. I will accept that. But you're still a monster. You had control over what you did after that." Axel let go of Roxas' hand to release more flames as his anger ignited once more.

"Axel, what did he do to you that you're still horrible to him? I've never heard of him doing anything that was bad enough for that." Roxas could tell from the tone of Demyx's voice that he was desperately trying to understand both Zexion and Axel. Roxas knew that Demyx didn't hate Zexion, even if he didn't like him and that he was still trying to make a final judgement about the redhead. Demyx, for all the threats he'd thrown at Axel since he had arrived, was essentially a peaceful person at heart and he loathed conflict.

"We're stuck here together, Axel. Why can't you let it go and let us all work together to get out of this hole?"

Roxas was watching Axel for his reaction. The glare was back and the flames at Axel's fists were hotter and less controlled than ever.

"Let it go, Demyx?" Axel's voice was calm, as if his anger had reached beyond the point where he was able to express it. "How can I let the death of my brother go? Would you forget it, Demyx, if Roxas died because of him?"

Roxas gaped, consumed by so many waves of emotion that dark lights danced before his eyes and pain shot through his head. It wasn't strong enough to be one of the Storms, but it was excruciating enough. The pain was only added to by the sound of the metal door screeching open and all of them sat staring, barely daring to breathe as light flooded the room.

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**A/N:** And I have to say this. I understand that the introduction of Sora in this way will probably confuse people, but I assure you it does serve a significant purpose for the story. If your willing to continue reading after this point, you'll find out how. That and I find the idea of a younger Zexion confronted with Sora's.. well Sora-ness too much to resist. Thanks for reading!


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